


My Secrets and Your Sleepless Nights

by canufeelthemagictonight



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Cell Phones, F/M, Guilt, I love the Patrick family so much, Love, Married Couple, MatPat phones home, Matt is Suffering someone help him, One Shot, Phone Calls & Telephones, Stephanie is amazing and I love her, baby Ollie is brought up at one point, because he is a Good Husband, it's Colleen's, post episode 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 01:56:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20219881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canufeelthemagictonight/pseuds/canufeelthemagictonight
Summary: He justhasto tell her that he's okay.After he gets kicked out of Purgatory, Matt takes the opportunity to call his wife.An Escape the Night one-shot.





	My Secrets and Your Sleepless Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Because, let's be honest, he _totally_ would've done this.

"Dammit..." Matt sits there for a while, his head in his hands, trying to think about what to do, until the answer hits him in a flash. "Steph." He jumps to his feet. "I gotta call Steph. Jael, I left my phone in my bag...do you still have it? Please? I need to talk to my wife."

Jael wordlessly hands him the phone.

He dials her number. It's close to one in the morning, so he knows that there's a chance she won't pick up, but hey, maybe Ollie's keeping her awake with his crying in the middle of the night. And if she _is_ asleep right now, Matt will leave a message. Either way works. He just _has_ to tell her that he's okay.

One ring.

Two rings.

"Stephanie Patrick speaking," announces a familiar groggy female voice.

"Steph!" Matt practically screams into the phone. "Oh, thank God. Steph. It's me."

He hears a slight intake of breath on the other end. "Matt? What's wrong? You sound upset. Is your mission going all right? Is everyone—"

"Alive, yes, we are, I think, how's the baby?" Matt rambles.

"Ollie's fine. I put him to bed again ten minutes ago. What do you mean, you _think?"_

Matt gulps. He hadn't told Stephanie the _whole_ truth before he left. All he'd told her was that he, Nikita, Joey, Jael, and Ryu were going on a mission for the Society Against Evil, and that he'd be home by tomorrow morning. At Joey's request, he'd left out the part about possibly bringing the dead back to life, because honestly, who would believe such a prospect without evidence? They all thought it would be better to surprise her with a happy ending than to confuse her with a dream. 

"Matt?"

No. He _can't_ keep her in the dark about this anymore. If he doesn't tell someone—_anyone_—what he just went through, his guilt is going to eat him alive before he can see her again.

"The truth is," he quietly admits, "I just got back from Purgatory."

"From _where?"_

"Purgatory. The afterlife. We went there to save Ro and everyone else who..." The last word of the sentence comes out as a whimper. "...died."

Stephanie sounds like she was just told that aliens exist. "Matthew, you can't be serious."

"No, it's true. You gotta believe me. That's why I joined the Society in the first place. Joey asked me and Nikita to help him make things right, and we went along with it. For our friends." Matt thinks of Rosanna. It felt _so_ good to see her again, and it felt _twice_ as good to hold her close in their first hug in six months. But he didn't get to say goodbye to her before he left. _What if she thinks I died with Colleen? What if I broke her heart again?_

"Well...uh..." Stephanie is obviously still trying to process this, but her tone remains courageously encouraging. "Did you save them, then?"

Matt half-chuckles-half-sighs. "Not quite. We're working on it. Joey and Nikita are still in Purgatory right now."

"Why aren't you with them?"

"I..." Matt's cheeks burn with shame as he remembers his latest mistake. "I got kicked out. I failed. I was supposed to protect Colleen, but I couldn't get the pieces fast enough." He can't stop his tears from creeping into his voice. "She died, _again,_ and I should've _saved_ her...the Minotaur...it's all my fault..."

Fortunately for him, Stephanie is used to her husband's demons by now. "Matt, no. It's _not_ your fault. You didn't kill anyone. I know you tried your best. The only one who killed her was the monster who actually killed her. Minotaur, did you say it was?"

"Yeah," mutters Matt, although he's not sure if he believes her reassurance.

"Besides," adds Stephanie, "you never know what might happen. If you really _were_ in the afterlife..."

Matt hurriedly cuts her off. "A-anyway," he stammers, "the reason I'm calling you is to tell you that I still plan on coming back tomorrow morning. No matter what. I'm _not_ gonna leave you in the dark for three months like I did last time. You and Ollie don't deserve to go through that again."

"It's okay," declares Stephanie. "I trust you."

"Thanks," says Matt with a smile. He's never loved her more than he does now.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've given Stephanie a significant role in a story, so please let me know if I messed up her character. Hopefully I didn't. *crosses fingers*


End file.
